Andy Garcia

Andrés Arturo García Menéndez (born April 12, 1956) is an American actor, director, producer, and musician. Known for his roles in film and television, he has received a Grammy Award, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. He first rose to prominence acting in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables (1987) followed by roles in Stand and Deliver (1988), Black Rain (1989) and Internal Affairs (1990). He then portrayed Vincent Mancini in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part III (1990), earning a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and becoming the first Cuban to be nominated for an acting Oscar.

He continued to act in Hollywood films such as Stephen Frears' Hero (1992), the romantic drama When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), and the action thriller Desperate Measures (1998). He also starred in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven (2001) and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). He also took roles in New York, I Love You (2008), the dramedy City Island (2009), the romantic comedy At Middleton (2013), and the crime thriller Kill the Messenger (2014), Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Book Club, The Mule (all 2018), and as the title role in the Father of the Bride remake (2022). He made his directorial debut with The Lost City (2005), followed by Diamond (2026).

For television, he portrayed the title role in the HBO television film, For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (2000), which he also produced. His performance earned him nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Award. He portrayed Ricardo Montalbán in the HBO television movie My Dinner with Hervé (2018). He stars in the Paramount+ neo-western series Landman (2025–present).

In 2005, he won both a Grammy and a Latin Grammy Award for producing Cuban musician Cachao's record ¡Ahora Sí!.^[1][2]

Early life and education

Andy Garcia was born Andrés Arturo García Menéndez in Havana, Cuba. His mother, Amelie Menéndez, was an English teacher and his father, René García, was an attorney in Cuba.^[3] Garcia has two older siblings, a sister named Tessi and a brother named René.^[4] When he was five years old, his family moved to Miami, Florida after the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion. Over a period of several years, they built up a million-dollar perfume/fragrance company. Garcia stated that his family tree is of Spanish descent.^[5] He was raised as a Catholic^[6][7] and attended Miami Beach Senior High School, where he played on the basketball team. During his senior year of high school, he became ill with mononucleosis,^[8] which convinced him to pursue a career in acting. He began his acting career that year by taking a drama class with Jay W. Jensen. He graduated from Florida International University.^[9]

Career

1980s

Garcia began acting at Florida International University but soon went to Hollywood. He had a short role alongside Angela Lansbury in "The Murder of Sherlock Holmes", the first episode of Murder, She Wrote as "1st White Tough", in 1984. He played the role of a gang member in "Hill Street Station", the first episode of TV series Hill Street Blues. He appeared in a supporting role in The Mean Season in 1985, alongside Kurt Russell.^[10]

In 1987, Garcia received an acting breakthrough in Brian De Palma's crime drama The Untouchables. The film starred Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Charles Martin Smith, Patricia Clarkson, and Robert De Niro. The film follows Eliot Ness as he forms the Untouchables law enforcement team to bring Al Capone to justice during the Prohibition era. It received widespread critical acclaim and was a financial success.^[11]

In 1989, Garcia acted in the Ridley Scott action thriller Black Rain with Michael Douglas as Detective Charlie Vincent. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a financial success, earning $134 million.^[12]

1990s

In 1989, Francis Ford Coppola cast Garcia as Vincent Mancini, the illegitimate son of Sonny Corleone (James Caan), in The Godfather Part III (1990).^[13] The film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, and Eli Wallach. The film concludes the story of Michael Corleone (Pacino), the patriarch of the Corleone family, who attempts to legitimize his criminal empire. For his performance, Garcia earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 63rd Academy Awards, as well as a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 48th Golden Globe Awards.^[14] Garcia is the first Cuban to be nominated for an acting Oscar.

In the 1990s, Garcia appeared in the Mike Figgis film Internal Affairs, in which his character Raymond Avilla engages in a battle of wits with a corrupt fellow police officer Dennis Peck, played by Richard Gere. In 1992, he played John Bubber, a cynical everyman in Stephen Frears' Hero starring Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis, and Joan Cusack. That same year, he co-starred with Uma Thurman in the thriller Jennifer 8. In 1994, he played Michael Green, the enabling husband of Alice, an alcoholic played by Meg Ryan in When a Man Loves a Woman. In 1995, he portrayed Jimmy "The Saint" Tosnia, a tragic criminal in Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead alongside Christopher Lloyd, Steve Buscemi, and Christopher Walken. He starred as Sean Casey, a hotshot lawyer in the 1996 Sidney Lumet drama Night Falls on Manhattan alongside Richard Dreyfus, and James Gandolfini. He played mobster Lucky Luciano in Hoodlum (1997) alongside Tim Roth, and Laurence Fishburne. He portrayed a Detective Frank Conner, cop trying to save his gravely ill son Matthew (Joseph Cross) in the 1998 action thriller Desperate Measures starring Michael Keaton and Marcia Gay Harden.

2000s

In 2000, Garcia starred and produced the HBO film, For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story. The film is about Cuba's jazz scene and the life of trumpeter and composer Arturo Sandoval. It starred Gloria Estefan as Emilia, and Charles S. Dutton as jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie. For his performance, Garcia received nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the 53rd Primetime Emmy Awards and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film at the 58th Golden Globe Awards.

Garcia portrayed the arrogant Las Vegas casino owner Terry Benedict in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven (2001), a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper movie starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Julia Roberts. The film was a massive commercial success earning $450 million at the box office. He also appeared in the sequels Ocean's Twelve (2004), and Ocean's Thirteen (2007).

Garcia co-wrote, directed, and starred in The Lost City alongside Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray.^[15] In 2005, he appeared in the last two episodes of the Turkish TV series Valley of the Wolves, along with Sharon Stone. In 2008, he starred in the first segment of New York, I Love You which was directed by Jiang Wen starring Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson.

Since 2009, Garcia has been slated to direct the film Hemingway & Fuentes about writer Ernest Hemingway, co-written by Garcia and Hemingway's niece Hilary Hemingway. They secured financing for the film in 2012, and Garcia himself, Anthony Hopkins, and Annette Bening were announced as stars. Filming was originally to have begun in January 2013,^[16][17] but due to delays, Hopkins left the project in 2014 and was replaced by Jon Voight.^[18][19]

2010s

Towards the end of the 2010s, Garcia had a career resurgence. He starred in four films in 2018. He appeared as Fernando Cienfuegos in the critical and commercial success Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again alongside Cher, Amanda Seyfried, Lily James, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, and Pierce Brosnan.^[20] When asked about singing with Cher, Garcia told NBC's Today show, "It was sublime. One thing is to act with Cher who is a great actress and then to be asked to sing with her".^[21]

Garcia also starred in the Paramount romantic comedy, Book Club, alongside Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, Jane Fonda, and Mary Steenburgen. The film was a box office success grossing over $89 million worldwide against its $10 million budget. He also starred in Clint Eastwood's drama film, The Mule alongside Eastwood, Bradley Cooper, Dianne Wiest, Laurence Fishburne and Michael Peña. It grossed $174.8 million and received positive reviews from critics. Garcia appeared in the HBO movie My Dinner with Hervé alongside Peter Dinklage and Jamie Dornan. The film received generally positive reviews from critics,^[22] and received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Television Movie.

2020s

In 2020, Garcia starred in Charles McDougall's comedic film Ana. Also that year, he starred in Thor Freudenthal's critically acclaimed coming of age drama Words on Bathroom Walls. The following year, he made an uncredited cameo in the comedy film Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar starring Kirsten Wiig and Jamie Dornan. That same year, he starred in the action films Redemption Day and the Guy Ritchie film Wrath of Man.

In 2022, he starred in the comedy Big Gold Brick. He also starred opposite Gloria Estefan again in the romantic comedy HBO Max film Father of the Bride. It is the third filmed version of the 1949 novel of the same name by Edward Streeter.Time praised Garcia on his comedic turn writing, "Garcia carries the film ably with his gruff elegance".^[23]

Garcia appeared in the 2023 action comedy film Expend4bles as Marsh, a CIA agent who is also a double agent and the main antagonist of the film.

Personal life

Garcia met his now-wife, Marivi Lorido, when they were both students at Florida International University during the mid-'70s when they first saw each other in a Miami nightclub. The couple dated for seven years before tying the knot on September 24, 1982.^[24] They had their honeymoon in Spain.^[5] The family divides their time between Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, and Key Biscayne, Florida.^[25][26]

They have four children: Dominik García-Lorido, Daniella, Alessandra, and Andrés. Dominik was born on August 16, 1983, in Miami, Florida. She is married to Michael Doneger. Daniella was born on January 3, 1988, in Los Angeles, California. She is married to actor Stephen Borrello and the couple has a daughter named Violette Rose. Alessandra was born on June 20, 1991, in Los Angeles. The fourth child and only son, Andrés, was born on January 28, 2002. He has gone on to become an established DJ across Los Angeles and Miami.^[27]

Garcia has often expressed his distaste for the communist regime that has governed Cuba since the revolution.^[28][29][30] Following Fidel Castro's death in November 2016, Garcia criticized his legacy, stating: "It is necessary for me to express the deep sorrow that I feel for all the Cuban people...that have suffered the atrocities and repression caused by Fidel Castro and his totalitarian regime."^[28]

Following the October 7 attacks in 2023 that killed 1,200, Garcia signed an open letter by Creative Community for Peace condemning the killings and calling for the world to "stand with Israel as it defends itself against a terrorist regime in Gaza that seeks Israel's destruction."^[31]

Garcia is Catholic,^[32] and a naturalized citizen of the United States.^[33]

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Major associations

Miscellaneous awards

Other honors

• 1995: Received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• 2002: Desert Palm Achievement Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival
• 2006: Received the Anthony Quinn Award for Achievement in Motion Pictures from The American Latino Media Arts Award
• 2019: Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes^[39]

External links and further reading

• Andy Garcia at IMDb
• Andy Garcia at the TCM Movie Database (archived)
• "Andy Garcia interview on his City Island diet". Finance Foodie. March 2010.
• "Andy Garcia interview for Smokin' Aces". MovieHole.net. Archived from the original on January 11, 2007.
• Boutilier, Corey (Executive Director) (March 21, 2006). "Video: Andy Garcia at the Miami Film Festival and his new independent film 'Lost City' (Andy speaks to independentfilm.com about his new film set in 1950s Cuba. The film had an emotional screening at the 2006 Miami International Film Festival. (TRT 5min, 9MB)". IndependentFilm.com.
• Bradshaw, Lisa. "Andy Garcia – Film star returns to Ghent after 22 years: 'I've come full circle'". Flanders Today. Archived from the original on November 24, 2010.
• "Photos "Cristiada": Andy García filming in Durango, México". HoyCinema.com Blogs.
• Andy Garcia at The Independent Institute